


The Barons' Meeting

by CalicoPudding



Series: Law of the Land - HQ Spirit Fic [12]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Akaashi is Not a Morning Person, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Arguing, Barons, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Cuddling & Snuggling, Flowers, Implied Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Kissing, M/M, Spirits, Water Magic, spirit! Akaashi, spirit! Suga
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 10:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7310527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CalicoPudding/pseuds/CalicoPudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The bi-monthly Barons' Meeting ends abruptly when discussions get heated, and personal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Barons' Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Some more BokuAka stuff, plus some more info for the AU. Also, finally back to checklist stuff.

Bokuto wakes to see Akaashi’s face illuminated by the morning sun. His breath catches in his throat when he sees the small glowing flower sprouting from Akaashi’s shoulder. 

Akashi told him about the flowers; said they grew sometimes, unpredictably. Another flower is winding up from his spine; the more sunlight spills into the room, the more flowers blossom from Akaashi’s skin. After a few minutes more, his eyes open, glowing slightly as they tend to do when he’s tired. 

“Good morning,” Akaashi says, closing his eyes and snuggling closer to Bokuto.

“Good morning.”

Bokuto traces his fingers between the flowers, dancing them up and down Akaashi’s back. He feels a short shiver, a hot puff of breath, before Akaashi grumbles.

“Koutarou,” he says to Bokuto’s throat.

“Yes?”

“Cut it out.”

Bokuto stops but settles his arm around Akaashi’s waist, pressing his palm flat against the slight dip in the other’s lower back.

“I love you,” Bokuto says, pulling Akaashi closer.

“Mm, I love you too, now let me go back to sleep.”

Bokuto’s more than content to indulge the other, but they do have to get up soon. The Barons' Meeting isn’t exactly something he’s allowed to miss and, as his second, Akaashi isn’t either. 

They were one of the first Districts to arrive. Kuroo and Kai were already there, along with Moniwa and Kamasaki. All the others arrived by nightfall, some were present at dinner while others retired early, exhausted from the extent of their travel. 

Sawamura’s second hadn’t questioned Akaashi’s asking if they could have a room where the windows faced the sunrise. Sugawara had only smiled, saying he knew the perfect room. Though Akaashi’s only a quarter spirit, the rising sun does give him some energy, keeps his flowers healthy.

Bokuto think so anyways, he’s not entirely sure on the specifics, and whenever he asks Akaashi he just receives a quiet smile and a kiss on his nose.

When they absolutely can’t afford to waste anymore time, Bokuto says another good morning to Akaashi, reminding him about the Baron Meeting.

“Hmm?” Akaashi mumbles. Some of his flower start shrinking, but some stay where they are, stubborn. 

“We have to get ready,” Bokuto scatters kisses around Akaashi’s face until his eyes flutter open, they’ve lost their glow by this point.

“I’m awake,” Akaashi assures him. 

Bokuto can make himself presentable in little less than ten minutes, but Akaashi isn’t very fond of mornings, and takes a little longer. Before putting on a shirt, he sits on the floor in front of the window, rolling his shoulders as the sun light hits his skin. He arches his back towards it, breathing slowly for a few minutes before standing.

* * *

Upon seeing Kuroo, Bokuto all but dances into the room, throwing his arm over his friend’s shoulder. Akaashi sits down, setting his papers on the table, offering a small smile to Sugawara.

He’s always found it a little strange that Sawamura has two Seconds, which kind of denotes the title, but after a few meetings, Akaashi had found that he was quite fond of the two. Sugawara is always friendly, and Kiyoko somehow manages to control the room when its occupants get too troublesome. If he’s being honest, Akaashi’s almost completely sure that Kiyoko holds more sway than Sawamura does.

The meeting commences with its usual greetings and formalities. Sawamura leads, calling each Baron to update the others with any new information within their District. They go around the tables, most of the Seconds take notes, the Barons listen. They talk of trade channels and minor discrepancies among the populous. They make plans for the upcoming festivals and alterations for the training regimens of the military. There’s even talk of a convention of sorts to conglomerate knowledge.

After everybody has said their piece, they fall into silence. Akaashi knows the next topic, thinks he knows why Sawamura is hesitating to continue. The Crow District is a particularly open district, most Districts are nowadays, but it sits on the boundary line of a forest that has the highest concentration of spirits any of them have ever seen. His own District, and Kuroo’s, fall on the same boundary line, but not to the same extent as the Crow District.

Just a week previous, there had been a massive explosion on the outskirts of the forest, just outside an agricultural village. The blast had been contained by an unknown fire aligned spirit and some seconds after, a growl like a thunderclap carried across the village. The news had spread across the Districts like a sickness, after a few days all of the Barons had been informed.

Sawamura shuffles his papers and Akaashi almost jumps when he hears Ushijima’s heavy sigh.

“Diplomacy has never worked before, the only logical move forward is a show of dominance.”

“We aren’t attacking them!” Bokuto snaps, slamming his palm down on the table. Akaashi touches his shoulder, barely enough pressure to be noticeable, but enough to calm him down. “The only reason diplomacy has never worked is because is because we never try!”

“I doubt the incident was intended to be an act of aggression,” Sawamura cuts in. Akaashi sees his arm move a fraction, holding Sugawara’s hand underneath the table.

Already, some of the Barons are getting antsy.

“It happened within the forest line, nobody was injured, and the damage was minimal and not crippling to the land it affected,” Kiyoko’s voice is the cool tone of reason, unfortunately, not everyone shares her sentiment.

“Yes, but it just proves that there are unstable spirits,” Moniwa says, leaning forward to rest his arms on the table. “If enough of them band together, they’ll pose a significant threat.”

Akaashi doesn’t think Moniwa has much to worry about, his District is nothing less than a fortress, he’s nowhere near any spirit provinces.

“There’s a king, right?” Kuroo points out, “Or some kind of monarch, I’m sure they deal with these issues, probably is currently dealing with them.”

Suga looks uneasy, Akaashi catches his eye across the table and nods his head in what he hopes is a reassuring way. 

“Well, he’s not doing his job whoever he his,” Terushima says.

Bokuto’s knee is bouncing beneath the table. He’s their general, sure, but staying still for so long combined with a touchy subject, he’s beginning to lose composure. Akaashi takes a card from Sawamura and takes Bokuto’s hand, rubbing slow circles into his skin.

“It would be wise to increase the patrol of the forest perimeter,” Ushijima says. “There are partial spirits who have integrated into our Districts and there is a chance they are in contact with those living in the forest. The Crow, Cat, and Owl Districts are at most risk, being so close.”

By now, Akaashi wants to yell. Like Moniwa, Ushijima doesn’t have to worry about mass populations of spirits.The only time either of them have even come close is hearing stories of the war from their grandfathers. Akaashi’s grandmother had been forced out of her province, ostracized for falling in love with a human. Partial spirits are mostly unwelcome in their provinces, and have no choice but to enter life amongst humans. He knows Ushijima is just trying to be tactical, objective, but it still makes him angry.

He’s about to voice his opinions but Sawamura speaks up before he gets the chance, actually standing up.

“Are you trying to imply something? Simply being farther from the forest means nothing.”

“I’m not implying anything.”

The other Barons break into argument with one another, even Bokuto joins the fray. But Akaashi’s attention is on Sugawara. The poor man looks as though he’s just been slapped, Sawamura isn’t holding his hand anymore, and judging by the slight tremors in his arm, it’s shaking. Taking a matter personally usually doesn’t mean much, but this particular matter...

“-preventative measures?”

“Identify partial spirits. I’m not suggesting imprisoning them, or anything to that extreme, but we should at least attempt to build a list of potential-”

Akaashi feels his flowers burn, thorns digging into his skin as they writhe angrily. Absently, he reaches for Bokuto’s leg, only to find that he’s standing up, arguing with some other Baron. Akaashi isn’t even sure who’s talking.

“No!” again, Bokuto slams his hand against the table, “This is too rash! We have no evidence of an impending attack. Aside from a few incidents with rogue spirits, thing have been completely peaceful. You can’t punish the many for the deeds of a few. Partial spirits have absolutely no reason to want to help rogues attack our Districts, they live here! What could they possibly hope to accomplish?”

“As I recall, Bokuto, sometime ago, you would have agreed with the majority on this matter.”

“That means absolutely nothing. Opinions change, and all I’m saying is that, for the longest time, the spirits have been peaceful.”

Bokuto sits down in a huff, taking Akaashi’s hand almost immediately as the room becomes dead silent.

“I think it would be for the best that we finish for the day. Clear your heads, check your aggression, we will pick back up tomorrow,” Kiyoko says, snapping everyone’s attention to her.

There’s a moment of hesitation, but then Terushima stands up and everyone else follows suit. Akaashi stays where he is though, and Bokuto stays with him, which causes Kuroo to hesitate in leaving. 

“Sugawara,” Akaashi says once the room is mostly empty.

“Yes?”

“I wonder if I could talk to you a moment?” He waves Bokuto out with a smile, and Kuroo goes with him. Sawamura hesitates but Sugawara nods, giving his Baron a gentle shove.

When everyone’s out, Sugawara lets out a quiet sigh.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a meeting this heated,” he says.

“I would have to agree with you.”

“So, Akaashi, what can I do for you?”

Instead of answering, Akaashi shrugs off his cloak and rucks up the back of his shirt. The flowers strain a moment, getting used to not being cramped anymore. He turns so Sugawara can see, and once he’s sure the moment of confusion has passed, he turns back around.

“I figured the look of distress on your face during the meeting was similar to my own. It’s an educated guess and nothing more.”

Sugawara’s speechless.

Akaashi knows he’s not wrong. He doubts Sugawara’s forest aligned though, likely water or wind if he has to guess. There’s always been something about Sugawara that Akaashi found strange, the hunch that the other is a partial spirit came about some meetings ago. It had been raining and Sugawara had been bone dry.

“Now, you,” Akaashi prompts. 

Sugawara looks around a moment, for what though Akaashi doesn’t know. After a moment, Sugawara settles on Sawamura’s water cup from the meeting.

Intently, Akaashi watches as Sugawara manages to raise a few fingers of water from the cup. It dances under his command, but it does seem a bit unstable. After a moment, he dips his hand in the cup and when he brings it back out, it’s glossy and covered in scales that disappears as the water dries.

“It’s still a work in progress, uh, my great grandmother was water aligned.”

“Forest aligned, my grandmother.”

“Who knows?”

“Only Bokuto, I’m assuming Sawamura knows?”

“Yes.”

Akaashi nods. The Crow District, despite its rapid growth in the past years, is still relatively lacking in influential power. Sawamura usually hosts the Baron Meetings now, but that doesn’t mean much.

“Do not worry Sugawara. We will make sure nothing happens. I’ve been the Head Strategist for quite some time now, and I do hold a certain amount of sway, as does Bokuto. And your Sawamura is gaining respect. This whole matter will get sorted out.”

“Right.”


End file.
